The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant botanically known as Petunia×hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Balpephan’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Elburn, Ill. during June 2005. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Petunia cultivars with unique and attractive flower coloration.
The new Petunia cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Petunia×hybrida breeding selection designated 2239-1-1-4-4, U.S. Pat. No. 7,642,436, characterized by its dark burgundy and yellow bicolored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, compact-mounded growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Petunia×hybrida breeding selection designated 2328-7, not patented, characterized by its medium blue and white bicolored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, compact-mounded growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during February 2007 in a controlled environment at Elburn, Ill.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since February 2007 at Elburn, Ill. and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.